Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 433,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,264 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.77% of Lincoln Electric worth $81,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $320,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $610,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 54,934 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,298,000 after acquiring an additional 14,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,903,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $190.60 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $197.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.97. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on LECO. Barclays increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Company Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells welding, cutting, and brazing products worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Americas Welding, International Welding, and The Harris Products Group. It offers brazing and soldering filler metals, arc welding equipment, plasma and oxyfuel cutting systems, wire feeding systems, fume control equipment, welding accessories, and specialty gas regulators, and education solutions, as well as a portfolio of automated solutions for joining, cutting, material handling, module assembly, and end of line testing, as well as involved in brazing and soldering alloys, and in the retail business in the United States.